


We Made Mistakes

by Crazynumnums



Series: Happiness Comes From Many Different People [2]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Late night Inspiration, Warning: more fluff than expected, it strikes again, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 23:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17837978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazynumnums/pseuds/Crazynumnums
Summary: Part 2 of my Good Doctor series. Claire has a little qualm with the topic of respect. Shaun helps her sort it out.





	We Made Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> Well, late night inspiration has come again, although not at such an unreasonable hour this time ;). After the surprisingly great reception for Prostitutes and Promises, I've decided to transform this into a series. Just not in the regular way. I'm going a little experimental here, and I'm going to write a one-shot based around Shaun and one other significant female character in his life. Lea is done, and now it's Claire's turn. (Morgan will also get one, and I'm kind of on the fence about Lim).
> 
> It is currently 11:11 PM. So, without further ado, welcome to the second installment of this series, featuring the one and only Claire Browne!
> 
> P.S I make a habit of shouting people out usually, but I already did a shoutout for some people on my CM fic. These are the people who I haven't already acknowledged!
> 
> Thanks to Praetorian_Scarecrow (your name is absolutely amazing) for the kudos! Thanks to glittercake for the kudos (means a lot coming from you. If anyone has time, check out glittercake's Good Doctor fics. All of them, they're all amazing)! And thanks to the spectacular Bubbles_Green for their kind comments and kudos! Thank you all for the support!

She sniffled.

She'd made a bit of a mistake. Nothing major, at least not in terms of the surgery, but the way that they were all acting in there would've convinced anyone that she'd accidentally brought about the apocalypse. Melendez yelled at her. Morgan said something in that condescending voice of hers, right as Claire thought they were getting somewhere with one another. And even Shaun looked unhappy with her. That was a real killer. It was such a rare look to see on his face, she didn't anticipate it at all.

An absolute punch to the gut.

She could deal with the patients getting angry with her. That was no problem, she had to deal with that. It was part of the job. But she didn't think she was getting anywhere with gaining her colleagues respect. She had been warned not to make promises. But she just couldn't seem to help it, it was almost pathological.

The only problem was that this promise was broken.

A shadow passed over her hunched form. She looked up, only to see the concerned eyes of Dr. Shaun Murphy.

"Are you okay, Claire?"

"No, I'm not." She blew out a ragged breath. "I'm tired of the shit."

"Tired of what?"

"They don't respect me, Shaun. Every day, I walk into this building. I talk to patients, to patients' families, to doctors, to nurses, and I walk out of here feeling like I haven't gained anything personally from the day. I might've saved someone, which is... it's fantastic, obviously. But what about when Melendez expects perfection from every movement I make."

"I respect you, Claire."

"Yeah? Well, thanks, although I could've done with a little support back there."

"I didn't feel like it was worth it."

"Thanks, Shaun!"

He seemed unperturbed. "I work here, too. And if I stuck up for you, we'd both be in trouble. What would be the point of that?"

"It's the moral duty, Shaun. But you're right, it wouldn't be worth it. I appreciate the thought."

"My thoughts didn't do much to stop everyone getting annoyed with you."

Claire thought this slightly hypocritical. "What about you, Shaun? I saw your face. You weren't happy with me either."

Shaun tilted his head, and Claire patted the seat beside her. "Come sit." He complied. "Why were you disappointed in me?"

"I wasn't."

"You weren't?"

"I was annoyed. At everyone else. You were right, they don't respect you. But one day they will. I never used to be allowed to do anything but scut work. I have made mistakes. But now Dr. Melendez and Dr. Andrews let me do more things."

"I've been here longer than you have!" She practically exploded, and Shaun recoiled a little. Claire rolled her eyes, because he was frustrating, but she wouldn't have it any other way. "Shaun, I don't need you to empathise right now. I just want you to--"

"Sympathise?"

"Exactly."

"I'm sorry that they don't respect you."

"Well, if I'm honest, it doesn't seem as effective if I have to tell you to do it, Shaun!" Claire smirked.

"Sorry."

They sat in silence for a while. It was their break, anyway, and Shaun didn't have any reason to go to have lunch without Dr. Glassman around. Not on Mondays. So he seemed happy to stay with her. Claire could sense the discomfort, rolling off him, but that made her appreciate the thought even more, because he was battling through his moderate unhappiness, just to make her feel better.

That thought alone cheered her up. She might have to deal with Morgan more than she'd like to, but there were still people around who cared that she was happy. People who were decent and lacked the arrogance that many surgeons tended to have. Claire had learned fast that this arrogance was the sign of a good, confident surgeon. That didn't mean she had to like those people as human beings.

Most of her colleagues she tolerated. Park was okay, she guessed. But kind of a stone wall. But Shaun... she was learning pretty quickly that he was just a nice person in general.

"Do you want to go get lunch, Shaun?" A grumble penetrated the silence. "I think that question has been answered for you."

Ten minutes later, they were sat at a table opposite each other, digging into plates of food. Shaun laughed. "Thank you for suggesting we go get food, Claire. I was starving."

"Why didn't you ask?"

"Because you were unhappy. And Lea told me to let the girl decide everything when she is upset."

"Odd piece of advice."

"I think she just wanted me to let her have McDonald's for dinner."

"Did you let her?" Claire grinned.

"Yes."

"You got played. So bad, Murphy." She was snorting now, and she wondered what was causing these bizarre mood swings. In just fifteen minutes, Shaun had transformed her from a sobbing mess into a giggling... she couldn't even think of the word. That was the effect that his presence seemed to be having. "How did you do that, Shaun?"

"How did I do what?"

"Make me happy?"

"Endorphin release." That set Claire off again, but this time, Shaun joined in, somewhat. He could be hilarious, especially when he tried.

"On a serious note, you said exactly the right things. About you respecting me, about... okay, I'll be honest, I'm fishing for more compliments."

"I do respect you. It must be hard in your position, dealing with the things that you do."

"You're in the same boat, don't forget."

"No I'm not." Claire squinted at him, which he correctly took as a prompt for more information. "I don't have to work with someone with my disability. I am me, so I don't have to deal with me."

"'Deal with you'? You are definitely not a burden, Shaun. You are one of the most valuable members of this hospital. You're so smart, you see things that most of us don't, all the time, coming up with ideas, and plans, all because you just want to help people."

Shaun blushed a little under the praise. "But I know that it is harder to communicate with me than most."

"Sure it is. But I think I do alright now, don't I?"

"You are the best person I know to talk to."

"Really? That _is_ surprising."

"You _are_ annoying sometimes." _You know what,_ she thought, _I'll take this. I should expect no different._ "But you don't put as much pressure on me. You let me do what I need to. You help me deal with my problems. You tell me what to do. Sometimes it can be the wrong thing, but you try to help."

"Thanks. And I will add that you are also annoying."

"Yes, I am. Very annoying."

"Maybe we should work on fixing this before we work out any respect issues."

"That could take a long time. I have been annoying my whole life. It will not suddenly stop because I want it to."

"Well, then you'll have to accept that as a character trait. At least we are not Morgan."

"Morgan is a bitch."

Claire didn't ever think she would hear that word come from his mouth. "Shaun!"

"Yes?"

"... I don't know." She hadn't really thought much further than a surprised outburst. "I've just never heard you use curse words before."

"I don't. And I don't think she is that. But you used that word to describe her before, so I thought that it was fitting."

"It was very fitting." She paused. This felt suspiciously like a date. Well, not suspiciously. It just felt like it. Claire may have even pointed them in this direction, so this was all her fault. And once the thought entered her mind, it was not going to exit that void until it was addressed. "We should hang out like this again."

Shaun nodded once, enthusiastically. "Yes, we should. On Mondays."

"I guess you've decided that then. Next Monday. It's a date." She subconsciously winced, realising she didn't know how he felt about that entire subject. He might just avoid any talk about that topic completely.

To her relief, he nodded again. "A date."

They walked back to their stations next to each other in silence. Until Claire saw the room they had been in before. She dragged Shaun inside.

"What are you doing? We need to get back."

"Maybe this truancy will make them respect me more. Can you sit down again, please?"

"Okay." No questions. No funny looks. He trusted she knew what she was doing. He was letting her do whatever she needed to do. She loved that about him.

"Was I clear back there?"

Shaun spoke at exactly the same time. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

It became very apparent to Claire in that moment that they'd had similar intentions from the start. She answered with no hesitation. "Yes, I would love to, Shaun. Can I sit next to you?" He nodded. Claire collapsed down on the chair next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder, and wrapped an arm loosely around his shoulders, thinking that the lack of pressure would make him feel a little better about it. Truth be told, she was mainly hugging him for selfish reasons. She felt him stiffen, but immediately relax. Not fully, but enough that she could see the effort he was putting in.

"Thanks for putting up with this, Shaun."

"That's okay, Claire. Just not for much longer please?"

"I'll get off in a sec. Just do one thing for me?"

"Whatever you want."

"Can you swear again?" His head turned in shock, making her laugh. "I'm sorry! It was really funny, and cute! Pleeeeeaaasseee?" she whined, knowing that he would give in.

He swallowed. "Fuck."

She laughed, a bright, happy sound, in stark contrast to the mood of the room half an hour earlier.

**Author's Note:**

> OH MY GOD, that was SO unneccesarily fluffy. But this is the late-night inspiration series (maybe I should rename it that) so I am not going to be discarding. I am posting without editing or anything. It is currently 12:15 AM (about an hour of writing), so Crazynumnums is out! (For now...)
> 
> :D


End file.
